<p>I am currently a junior in High School and am wondering if i should take math next year. I am planning on being an English major. And the other classes I'm planning to take are AP English Lit, Political Systems/Ecomonics(semester long classes), AP psych, drawing and painting, and band. I am in PreCalc right now and am thinking about taking AP Calculus AB. I have a B in PreCalc right now and I feel like I would struggle more with AP Stats or Calc BC. I'm not bad ay math but it isn't my best subject either. Would it be a good idea to take Calc?</p>
<p>You should try to take at least Regular calculus or Calculus honors, if your school has it. Since you’re going into english, having taken up to Precalculus by graduation is fine.</p>
<p>If you take AP Stat, it tells adcoms that you were scared of AP Calc. If you take AP Calc, this ALWAYS is THE tell-tale sign that the student has challenged himself with the “most rigorous classes.” Everyone knows you could have stopped at Pre-Cal. To actually go ahead and take Calc puts you in a class that is respected. Just get a B.</p>
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<p>I think this depends on where you plan to apply. If you’re looking at selective colleges, then Calc is pretty standard, no matter what you plan to major in. And what you take may affect the level of rigor your HS GC marks on the SSR.</p>
<p>Both calculus AB and statistics are like one-semester college courses, but taught in high school over a year, so either would be a gentler introduction to college math than calculus BC.</p>
<p>Statistics is generally useful to know and understand, although (at the high school or AP level) it is often thought to be “math for students afraid of calculus”. The most selective schools may want to see that you took the more rigorous available choices in all subjects.</p>
<p>Stopping after precalculus is likely to be acceptable at less selective schools, at least if you are not going for a math-intensive major.</p>
<p>Calculus is unlikely to be needed for an English major (unless you attend a school which requires calculus as a general education requirement), although it is useful if you choose to take out-of-major courses in subjects like physics or (more in-depth than AP) statistics.</p>
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Agreed. Colleges (most) don’t care what you’re going into – at least that’s not what your admission offer is based off and it’s not what your HS schedule is compared to. So the “going into English major having only achieved precalc is “ok”” argument is flawed, as you still have to get through the admissions process first – which is your concern here.</p>
<p>What all colleges DO want to see, however, is that you pushed yourself. So instead of taking the easy route, actually challenge yourself, take AP Calculus AB, and get a B if you have to. I took AB last year as a junior, got a B both semesters, and then went and took BC this year. Had I settled for AP Stat (or no math at all), it’d be a clear indication that I didn’t challenge myself enough by going on to BC.</p>
<p>Agree with Entomom, where are you applying?</p>
<p>I’m planning on applying to
UC San Diego
Northern Arizona University
California Lutheran University
University if Nevada Reno
Drexel
Cal State Northridge
BYU Provo</p>
<p>3 years of math would be fine for all except UCSD.</p>
<p>I’ll keep that in mind when I pick my classes. Thanks!</p>
<p>Since the OP’s question was essentially answered, I hope I am not hijacking by asking a similar question about a 4th year of math. My son is a Jr. and is finishing up BC Calc this year. He currently does not have a math for next year. The school offers AP Stats, but he doesn’t really want to take it, and also, would it be a step down from the Calc anyway? The guidance counselor mentioned how they also have Discrete Math, but it is a college prep course and known to be easy even for non-math kids. We are thinking about math at the state University, or possibly community college, but we would want the college credit, so would community college be enough for that? He is planning on going into engineering and will be applying to schools like CMU, Cornell, Duke, Penn, Lehigh, WPI, Tufts, Georgia Tech, Case Western, and perhaps Rutgers. If he didn’t take math, he could ad another AP course. Not sure what to do… Any advice? Our guidance counselor is no help at all.</p>
<p>@my3gr8oyz I would recommend the state univeristy option for Multivariable Calc and or Linear Algebra if possible. Since he does not plan on matriculating to the state school I wouldn’t hold my breath on the transfer credit. It definitely will show rigor and that he challenged himself Sr year.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my daughter took honors Precalculus as a junior, and AP Statistics as a senior. She applied to 5 selective universities (accepting somewhere between 40% and 25% of applicants); she got into 4 and got waitlisted at one.</p>
<p>Unless you plan to major in the sciences, I don’t think AP Statistics is the death sentence that others say it is.</p>
<p>To both of you I say take the AP Stat.<br>
For the student who is done with Calc - it would be better if the HS offered another level of math (my daughter’s school offers Multivariable Calc) but since they don’t, taking AP Stat would be the most rigorous course work available. My daughter was in a similar situation and she is taking both AP Stat and Multi this year as a senior. She loves the Stat class.<br>
For the student only in Pre-calc - taking AP stat is better than no math, and stat is very unlike other math classes and is useful in many non-stem professions. (also - it may satisfy the math requirement for your college if you get the ap credits - as an english major you may be happy to not have to take math in college!)</p>
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<p>Community college math courses beyond the college freshman calculus level are often pre-articulated with same state public universities as being equivalent to the state universities’ courses. Private or out of state public universities may have to individually evaluate the college course work being transferred, though some do have pre-articulation. You can search for “transfer credit” on each university’s web site.</p>
<p>Be aware that if a high school student wants to take college sophomore level math, it is best to take all of the college sophomore level math courses (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations), since the division into semesters or quarters can differ between different schools. A student who takes only some of the courses may need to partially repeat them – this is especially common for taking either linear algebra or differential equations, but not both, since many universities have the two subjects combined into one course.</p>
<p>Another option, if you are good at self-study, is to take the class on-line and self-paced. D couldn’t fit math into her senior yr schedule and did this with Johns Hopkins. I believe Stanford also offers upper level math on-line. The HYPMS schools she applied to didn’t seem to have a problem with this and yes, she was a prospective engineer/comp sci major.</p>
<p>I recommend that everyone takes calculus if they can, preferably one of the AP sequences (AB for those not interested in math/science.) I’ve never understood this stigma revolving around calculus. If you have tamed the pre-calculus beast, you should have no problem. Understanding the concepts introduced in that class is much harder than grasping calculus. General single-variable calculus is in fact one of the easiest maths to understand. It makes sense to a lot of students who hate math leading up to it. Don’t be afraid to take it, and it is the key way to prove you “challenged” yourself in high school, especially as a non-STEM major. Taking online may not be the best idea. I took calculus online, but I had taught it to myself beforehand. If not, basically the class consists of teaching yourself with a textbook and a few other tutorials.</p>
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<p>Actually, my experience as both a math student and a math teacher has been quite the opposite. A lot of students I have known have had trouble adjusting to calculus.</p>
<p>I think there is value in knowing the key concepts of calculus–especially the concepts in first-semester college calculus: instantaneous rate of change, area under the curve, etc. But if a student is not really ready to master them, I don’t see any value in his beating himself senseless trying. And I also think most people would derive more benefit from an elementary understanding of statistics than an elementary understanding of calculus.</p>
<p>As always, ymmv.</p>
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<p>However, a student in a position to take calculus in high school is a year ahead of the normal sequence in math. Therefore, s/he is good at math. And high school calculus AB, if offered (as is apparently the usual case), would be a gentler introduction to calculus than a full speed calculus course in college if such a student is uncertain about math.</p>
<p>Statistics is far more abstract than calculus. I suppose that if you aren’t trying to actually understand it, performing the calculations for statistics may be easier, which is usually all high school math students do anyway. However, to actually comprehend the subject and understand elementary proofs, calculus is much easier, in my opinion of course. This is from my experience and of others I know. It’s not true for everyone.</p>